Archive for the ‘Wellington’ Category

In addition to the many fans that posted their reviews on TORn (see yesterday’s article: 15,084 Reviews and Counting), many of our core staff chimed in with reviews soon after FOTR opened. In this article, we bring you reviews by such well-known names as Xoanon, Tehanu, Quickbeam and Ostadan. All of them capture the magic and excitement that we all experienced 15 years ago.

To begin, one lucky staffer, Tehanu, the envy of all of us, was lucky enough to attend the film’s premier in Wellington, New Zealand. Of course, Tehanu (a.k.a. Erica Challis) is one of TORn’s founders and served as our ‘feet on the ground’ and number one Ringer Spy during filming. Here are some of her impressions from the day:

“I’ve been in Wellington for a day or two and I have to tell you, the town is in a Rings uproar. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. The streets are hung with LOTR banners, everything from the Town Hall to the Evening Post’s headquarters is renamed ‘Middle Earth’ (as is the airport, I believe, though I haven’t seen that myself.) The Rings is on every newspaper, every phone bill, every electricity company billboard, on the ads for Mastercard. There are funny billboards harping on LOTR themes everywhere (“Wellington: Full of orcs, hobbits and elves. …But enough about Parliament…..”). The monster cave troll dominates Courtenay Place from its perch on the awning of the Embassy Theatre, where the plasterers are working round the clock to finish the theatre in time for the Premiere.”

The winners of last month’s Hobbit Fan Contest that got to go to New Zealand and watch an in-progress cut of “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” and experience the beautiful scenes of the north and south islands and the hospitality of Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand, won their spots by producing short films.

As reports from the experience suggest, there was a great bonding of the 75 winners and their guests during the week-long tour of Middle-earth. These bonds are on display in a “thank you” video that the group organized to give to Peter Jackson and all the many folks who helped make the trip amazing. There is even a nod to TheOneRing.net which honestly touches us.

Turns out that crew can make a pretty great video with parts from all around the world. Their sincerity and appreciation really comes through and will make all fans proud. Enjoy! #HobbitFanContest

Ringer White Raven writes to us with this little snippet of some activity going on at the Roxy Theatre in Wellington where the NZ premiere of the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will occur on December 2 at 8.30am. (more…)

The World Premiere for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is approaching fast. For those who will be in London on December 1, here’s Warner Bros. instructions on how you can secure the best possible access and views of the red carpet in Leicester Square.

The first thing to note is that that you’ll probably need to get a wristband. As Warner Bros says: “There will be no guaranteed access to the public viewing area without a wristband.” (more…)

SoundWorks Collection recently took a trip to Wellington, New Zealand to speak with the wizards at Park Road Post Studios about their work on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. From these interviews comes a 10-minute video (which we’ve embedded below) detailing the tremendous process of constructing the sound design of the second film in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation.

This profile comes on the heels of the Oscar nominations the film
received in both sound categories – Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (in addition to Visual Effects). The Academy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 2.

Hobbit fans catching sight of Peter Jackson at last year’s Wellington Premiere Party

Red Carpet Tours wants to invite Wellington fans to celebrate the release of the Desolation of Smaug with them in style: at Miramar’s Roxy Cinema, right in the heart of Wellywood. The Roxy Cinema complex has received accolades internationally for its authentic Art Deco design, and incredible sculptures and artworks that showcase Weta Workshop talent. Its co-owners include Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, and Jamie and Anne Selkirk.

Jed Brophy (Nori) and William Kircher (Bifur) will be among the Hobbit film talent invited as special guests for this party.

There will be Costume prizes awarded, hearty Hobbit food and drink, great music and lots of Hobbit fun ! It’s a wonderful occasion to get together with like minded fans and celebrate the release of the ‘Desolation of Smaug’ along with an international party of fans brought to New Zealand by Red Carpet Tours !

Date: Wednesday 11th December, 2013

Time: 8:30pm – Midnight

Location: The Roxy Theatre, Park Road, Miramar-Wellington.

Cost: NZ$150 per person. (Strictly no door sales.)

Party ticket includes: Entry to the party, entertainment, hearty Hobbit fare, especially invited guests ~ Jed Brophy (Nori) and William Kircher (Bifur) and prizes for best costume. Tickets are limited.

To wrap up the week that saw an unprecedented live fan event where fans gathered in theaters around the world with cast and crew, here is a list of things that stood out for TORn staff.

During the event, fans were treated to costume displays, live Q&As, a preview of the end credit music video, and most importantly, 20 minutes of nearly complete, previously unseen footage. As stated in previous posts, this means movie spoilers are coming, so feel free to stop reading now if you wish to spend the next four weeks without knowing what’s to come. (more…)

As you probably know by now, the closing credits song for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a tune entitled I See Fire by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

At yesterday’s Fan Event, Peter Jackson said Sheeran became involved in the production after his daughter Katie introduced the artist to her parents after attending one of his shows back in March/April.

“She said that I just had to listen to him, and that he could be the perfect fit for the end of the film… and she was right.”

They noted at the time that Sheeran had a “great voice” and “great sensitivity”, then put it on the back-burner for a few months.

As Peter told fans in Wellington, the musicians always see the film before they write and record their tune. Inevitably that means it occurs late in the production process. (more…)

Beginning last Saturday and running through to September 4, TheOneRing.net is hosting a Pledge Drive (see the banner at the top) as well as a bunch of auctions for some really cool memorabilia and collectibles.

The day-to-day operation of the website, and the events we host, require a lot more resources than when we first started nearly 15 years ago. We sometimes find it hard to ask our readers for the help we need to keep running, so we began discussing what it is that makes TheOneRing.net worth helping out. It started out as a search for the Top Ten Moments of TORn, but the list got so long because each staff member had their own idea of important moments in TORn history. Here, instead, is something more encompassing: Ten Ways TORn helps serve Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom (listed in no specific order).

And, if you enjoy what we do, consider a donation (no amount too small, because every bit does help!) to keep us running!

If you can’t, that’s fine as well — keep reading, commenting and contributing. Because TORn is as much you as it is us!

Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the week ending August 18, 2013. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch up on the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the link to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!

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